Importance of Supercomputing at Oak Ridge National Lab Transcript: Congressional Record April 26, 2005

Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
First of all, I would like to commend my colleague, the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert), for her constant work on the Science Committee and these particular areas for the work that she has done over the last several years and her consistent leadership in support of the high-end computing.

I also thank my colleagues in the House for passing the previous version of this bill in the 108th Congress, and hopefully the Senate will pass this bill also in a timely manner.

H.R. 28 aims to restore U.S. world leadership in the area of high-performance computing. Supercomputing is a large national effort spread out over seven Federal agencies. This resolution seeks to better coordinate those agencies' efforts and to improve both short-term and long-term planning.

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory near my district is a center of national leadership and high-performance computing. Oak Ridge is the Department of Energy's largest science and energy laboratory. This lab is involved in many innovative research projects, including renewable energy, materials science, national security, and bioscience.

I am proud that the Oak Ridge National Lab near my district stands to become the home of the world's most powerful supercomputer.

I envision thousands of scientists traveling to Oak Ridge to use the computing facilities. The discoveries they make will change how we diagnose and cure diseases, heat and cool our homes, travel from place to place, and defend our liberties in time of warfare.

H.R. 28 will strengthen and streamline our national efforts in the areas of high-performance computing. I commend this bill and recommend this bill to my colleagues and ask for their support.